


Simple Gifts

by Huskinata



Category: Suki Dakara Suki
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:17:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9275765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huskinata/pseuds/Huskinata
Summary: A look into Hinata and Asou's relationship after the manga. I don't own Suki Dakara Suki!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if Asou seems a bit out of character, but I imagine that after the events of the manga he would be more open and willing to let Hina in. A little bit. Anyway, enjoy and, of course, I don't own anything.

This was it. She was going to call him. Any minute now she would pick up the phone and dial his number. Or maybe she should just wait until tomorrow- give him time to adjust.

Hinata had been trying for hours to build up the courage to call her former teacher. She touched the scrap of paper tightly to her chest and took a deep breath. "Asou-san gave you his number because he wants you to call him. He wouldn't have risked missing his train to give it to you otherwise." Hinata told herself.

It worked; she perked up and was back to her usual cheery self. She dialed the numbers hastily scrawled on the paper and stood by the receiver as she waited for Asou to pick up.

Shiro Asou started when he heard his phone ring. He picked up the cell and sighed when he heard the familiar voice on the other end.

"Hi, Asou-san!"

To be honest, Asou was starting to get worried. He had been expecting her to call as soon as he boarded the train to his new apartment; the fact that the normally eager teen hadn't called yet caused him some unease. With her track record of kidnappings he found it hard not to worry.

"Hi Hina, I'm glad you called. I was getting worried." Hinata could feel her cheeks redden. As much as she liked the thought of Asou-san thinking of her, she didn't like that she had made him feel bad. She hoped she could reassure him and bring a smile (or as close as he ever got to a smile) to his face.

"I'm fine, I just thought you might want to unpack and settle into your new home first." He had unpacked all his meager belongings hours ago, but it was a nice sentiment.

"Thank you. Just be careful, okay? I'm not your bodyguard anymore so you have to look out for yourself."

"Okay! I promise I will. I'll use everything you taught me." Simultaneously the image of her running around pretending to be an assassin, failing at stealth and breaking her thumbs, and that of her skipping down the street blissfully ignorant of the dangers around her entered his mind. He was not reassured.

"I haven't been given my assignment yet so I think we should get you a new alarm system as soon as possible. Is Sunday good? I'll help you install it."

Her breath hitched. She was really going to go shopping with Asou-san this weekend? She couldn't believe it! "Really?"

"Of course. Is ten good for you?" She nodded vigorously before remembering he couldn't see her.

"Mm-hmm! I'm so excited; I can't wait to see you." Asou was a bit taken aback. Embarrassingly, he could feel his face heating up. He coughed into his hand.

"I'll see you Sunday then. Lock your doors tonight, okay?"

"Okay!"

"…Good night, Hina."

"Good night Asou-san!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's so short. It's mostly just transition.

Walking to school the next day Hinata was beaming brighter than her friends had ever seen her.

"What's with you?" Emi asked her friend.

"How did things go with Asou sensei yesterday? Did you find him and tell him what you needed to?" Touko asked.

Hinata smiled at her friends and replied, "Yup! I told Asou-san that I love him and he said he loves me back!" Her friends stared at her in shock before regaining their composure and congratulating her. "We're going to buy an alarm system this weekend for my house."

"Oh my gosh, Hina." Emi started. "Do you know what this means?" Hinata's mind was drawing a blank.

Touko caught on to what Emi was getting at and with excitement exclaimed, "You have a date!" Hina's face was filled with excitement but quickly sobered up.

"I don't think so guys. We're just going to get an alarm."

"Nonsense, Hina. You two are going shopping. You have to let us help you pick your outfit. I can't believe it; your first date!" Emi was really warming up to the idea. They arranged to meet at Hina's house that afternoon to do homework and help Hinata prepare for her date.


	3. Chapter 3

"Today is the day." Hina said to her bears when she awoke Sunday morning. She sang to herself as she got dressed, donning the red blouse, Capri's, and headband that her friends had picked out for her. Asou would be coming by train so once she was ready she headed for the station. She even remembered to lock the door to her house before leaving.

Asou smiled upon seeing her. Hina was practically radiating cheerfulness and, as always, it was contagious. They greeted each other and started walking towards the nearby shopping plaza, allowing themselves to enjoy each other's company in silence for the moment.

"Do you want to walk around for a while?"

"Sure!" Hinata replied, cheering inwardly that they would be hanging out for a longer period of time. Hinata talked excitedly about items they had seen in stores and of other things she thought of, often going on tangents that he usually couldn't trace back to their origins. She also sang to herself a lot, a trait which Asou found quite endearing.

Eventually he saw that it was getting late and they made a quick stop to the hardware store to purchase the alarm system. He chose the best one available that was also user friendly. It wouldn't help if Hinata tripped the alarm by accident or couldn't figure out how to set it.

They arrived at Hina's house around dinner time. As she set about preparing their meal Asou worked on getting the alarm set up. He also answered her many questions regarding just exactly what he was doing.

"Just having an alarm severely reduces the risk of someone breaking in, but it only works if you set it up right."

"Right!"

"Make a note if you have to, but don't forget. Or else I'll call you every night if I have to remind you."

"Okay," she said blushing. She wouldn't mind getting a call from Asou san every night.

He worked diligently and Hinata helped when she could, bringing him tools and the occasional glass of water. When he finally finished he sat back and sighed. "That took longer than I thought. What time is it?"

"It's ten thirty." She replied, not showing any signs of fatigue. Asou, on the other hand, felt tired after the tedious labor.

Before he had a chance to begrudgingly bring up his inevitable departure Hinata said, "You look tired Asou-san. Will you be able to make it back to the train?" He thought about it for a moment and was skeptical, but it wasn't like he had any other options. "You can stay for the night if you want."

He looked at her in surprise, not only at the innocent offer but at the fact that she seemed to be responding to his unspoken thoughts. He knew it wouldn't be right to stay and take advantage of her hospitality but his heavy lids protested the thought of making such an inconvenient trip so late at night. "Why not?" he answered with a sigh.

"Yay! Sleepover with Asou-san!" Hinata cheered as she brought out extra blankets for a second futon. She had school the next day but stayed up late chatting with Asou, who was trying his best not to nod off mid-sentence.

She left for school before Asou had risen and was careful not to wake him. When she arrived at the school gate she was greeted by her friends, who quickly bombarded her with questions.

"How did the date go Hina?" Emi asked before she even had time to greet them.

"It was really nice. I had a lot of fun spending time with Asou-san." She left out the part about him sleeping over since she thought that might make her friends worry and it seemed like the type of thing Asou would tell her to keep secret. She smiled to herself. Our secret.


	4. Chapter 4

Asou had woken up to find that Hinata had already left for school. He was more tired than he would've thought. He knew it was past time he leave and he didn't want to outstay his welcome, but it wouldn't feel right leaving while she was gone. It just seemed rude somehow. So he decided to stay until she returned home from school. Then he would go. Unless she offered him dinner, then he couldn't possibly refuse.

Four days after their date Asou was still staying at Hina's house. He couldn't bring himself to leave and kept finding excuses to stay. Asou decided he had to leave eventually and made up his mind to confront Hinata as soon as she got home from school. When he finally heard her call from the entrance to the house he rushed to greet her. "Hina! I'm glad your back."

Hinata beamed at this greeting, which made Asou feel worse since he would be disappointing her in a moment. He took a deep breath, bracing himself, and said, "Hina, I have to go back to my apartment. I've stayed too long and I don't want to trouble you anymore than I already have."

As he said it he realized that he was the one who was disappointed. When his companion smiled up at him he was slightly confused. "It's okay, you can stay here if you want. It's a pretty big house and there's plenty of space," she said in earnest.

He smiled sadly down at her. "Thank you for the offer Hina, but I couldn't. I'd be too much of an expense, and people would think it's indecent. Besides, I should be getting called into work any day now." Her face fell awfully quickly. "I'll come to see you on the weekends," he said truthfully in an attempt to cheer her up. He was grateful to see that it worked.

Her eyes lit up with new joy at the thought of Asou visiting so often and quickly acquiesced. The man gave his companion a pat on the head before exiting the house to catch his train.


	5. Chapter 5

As Asou approached the train station he heard someone call his name from behind. He turned around and was surprised to see his former students Emi and Touko.

"Sensei! I didn't know you were in town," Touko said when they caught up to him.

"Oh, I was just visiting Hinata," he lied, vaguely aware of a ringing in his ears.

"Really? How nice! So how-" Just then Asou heard the announcement on the intercom for his train's departure.

"I actually have a train to catch but it was nice seeing you two."

"Of course, sorry!" Emi wouldn't want to be the reason her former teacher missed his train. Both students waved as he walked off towards the station.

"Study hard," he called back with a wave. "And take care of Hina," he added. Having people watching out for her when he couldn't was something he considered invaluable.

Later that night, before he went to bed, Asou called Hina to remind her to check her alarm and make sure her doors and windows were locked.


	6. Chapter 6

Asou was currently on a train back to his apartment after his most recent visit with Hina. It had been a few weeks since he had installed her security system and, true to his word, made the time to visit her once a week. This, however, was becoming a problem. It was getting increasingly hard to slip away from his charge for too long.

Asou was interrupted from his thoughts by a message alert on his phone. It was Masaya letting him know that there had been a situation, again, but he had taken care of it. The bespectacled man heaved a sigh. He hated having to rely on Masaya to cover for him but he couldn't leave his charge unguarded.

At the same time he would hate to tell Hina that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise of a weekly visit. It was almost concerning how hard he'd fallen for this girl. Shaking his head he pushed aside his enamored thoughts and turned to more important matters.

What should he get Hina for her birthday?

He had been wracking his brain for ideas for most of the train ride and hadn't come up with anything that suited her. Asou remembered seeing a stack of Tomoaki-san's children's books in Hina's room, and she had some stuffed bears; maybe he could find a bear that looked like the one on the cover of the book. He would have to ask Masaya for Tomoaki-san's contact info when they met up later.

Hinata was practically bouncing with joyful energy. She only had a week to wait before Asou-san would be back and, as luck would have it, it would also land on her birthday! Asou-san had already mentioned that he couldn't be there in the morning but that gave her the chance to spend the first half of the day with her family and all afternoon with Asou-san.

The rest of the week crept by in idle anticipation.


	7. Chapter 7

The morning of Hinata's 17th birthday she woke up feeling as excited as ever. Getting dressed she picked out her nicest clothes, including a shirt she remembered Asou-san saying he liked on one of their other dates. Earlier in the week she had talked to Tomo and told him about their date plans. He had joked about her wearing her nicest underwear and she didn't know what he meant but she figured it couldn't hurt so she picked those out too.

Before leaving she hugged Waka and Tono and headed out. She was a few steps away before she turned back towards her house, thankfully remembering to lock the door.

Hina watched a clock in the store across the plaza from where she sat. 4:30. Asou-san said he'd be there at 3 and with each passing minute the usually cheery Hinata was becoming increasingly anxious. To make matters worse she couldn't get a hold of him by phone.

Two hours later and she was still waiting, sipping from a drink she she had purchased at a nearby vending machine. As she stared at her hands around the can, brows furrowed in concern, she heard a voice speaking to her from directly to her right.

Snapping out of her thoughts she looked up to see an unfamiliar man standing much too close and looking right at her.

"Hey, sweetheart. You shouldn't be out here all alone. Why don't you come with me and we can keep each other company?" As he said this he gently rested his hand on her upper arm.

Maybe it was because she was already on edge, or maybe it was the fact that she had been thinking of her former bodyguard moments earlier, but she remembered something that Asou-san had told her once.

"Not all people are nice people, Hina. There are people who will lie, cheat, steal. People who would kill you or me or anyone else to get what they want. And it doesn't stop there. There are far worse things than death." He hated to be so blunt but it was the only way Hina would get the message. The look in Asou's eyes when he said this was enough to make her a bit more cautious around strangers.

She looked the man in the eye and replied with a firm "No, thank you" before getting up to leave.

"Aw, come on. Where you goin'?"

As she walked away she could hear the man's footsteps following her.


	8. Chapter 8

Across the plaza Asou could see Hina headed away from the storefront they had agreed to meet at. He was a little surprised to see she had waited up for him but relieved that he hadn't missed her.

Then he caught sight of her uncharacteristically worried expression, immediately followed by the sight of a man stalking close behind. Hina's shoulders were tense; she knew she was being followed.

Asou's heart stopped. At the same time, his brain kicked into full gear. There were plenty of street lights and a lot of people around. He hurried across the plaza, only slowing down when he was close.

"Hina," he called, loud enough to get her attention over the crowd. She turned to look at him just as he caught up to her, casually putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Asou-san!" Her face lit up upon seeing him.

"Sorry I'm late." He led her away and ducked into the closest shop, noting that the man hadn't gotten the hint and was still nearby. Hina opened her mouth to speak and he knew she was going to tell him about her stalker.

Discretion was not her strong suit and he didn't want the stranger knowing that he was aware of his presence. Before Hina could say anything Asou leaned down to cover her lips with his own. It was brief but had the desired effect. Pulling away slightly he whispered, "Don't turn around," gently cupping her face in his hand so she wouldn't turn instinctively.

He stood up straight and spoke in a conversational tone. " I hope you don't mind, I have to make a call. I won't be long."

Asou called another agent that he knew was in the area for work and informed him of the situation, describing the man in question. When he saw his friend escort the man out of the store a few minutes later he knew it was being handled.

The bodyguard breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Hina. She was still blushing like a rose at his public display of affection and he found it hard to resist the urge to kiss her again and elicit a similar response.

"I'm sorry I was late, Hina. I couldn't get away from work…" he trailed off. No excuse was good enough after seeing what could've, and nearly did, happen. He should have been with her.

Hina could read the guilt on his face and grabbed one of his hands in both of her own. "It's okay Asou-san. You're here now. That's what matters."

He pulled her in for a hug. He hated close calls-they reminded him of his inadequacies, but Hina's smile and kind words soothed him ever so slightly.

"Happy birthday, Hina." Reaching into his back pocket Asou pulled out the box that held Hina's gift and handed it to her. In it was a simple black pager with a cute bear charm. "For emergencies," he said. Although he wouldn't be opposed to her messaging him every once in a while.

Hinata looked up from her gift with a smile that could rival the sun in brightness and hugged Asou tightly.

"Thank you Asou-san!" He failed to suppress the blush slowly rising to his cheeks.

"It's no problem. Just make sure you have it with you at all times." He watched as she put it in her pocket. "Hopefully there's still time to salvage the rest of your birthday."

Hinata smiled warmly at him, lacing the fingers of their hands together. Leading him away she laughed. "I think we'll manage."


End file.
